Working from home has moved a significant share of company data out of the office: onto the kitchen table, onto the laptop the children also use, onto the printer in the living room. In the office many protections are invisible and managed by others. At home, part of that responsibility passes to the person doing the work. No special technical skills are needed, just a few clear rules.
Keeping work and private life apart
A device for work, if possible
The most effective rule is to use a computer dedicated to work, ideally one provided and managed by the company. On a family computer people install games, extensions and programs downloaded in a hurry: each one adds risk to the company documents it holds.
If the computer is shared
When there's no alternative:
- create a separate user account for work, password-protected and without administrator privileges;
- don't leave the work session open when you step away;
- don't save company documents in shared folders or on the desktop of the family account.
Separate accounts
Don't forward work emails to your personal inbox "for convenience" and don't upload company files to personal cloud services. Besides the security risk, it's often against internal rules and makes it impossible for the company to protect that data.
Access to company systems
- Use only the tools approved by the company: VPN, remote desktop, collaboration platforms.
- The company VPN and remote access must be protected by two-step verification.
- Don't install remote access programs on your own initiative to "connect to the office PC": you'd be creating a door nobody is watching.
- Disconnect the VPN and close sessions at the end of the day.
The home network
Your home network effectively becomes an extension of the company's. Make sure the router has an admin password different from the factory one, WPA2 or WPA3 encryption and up-to-date firmware. If you have many smart devices at home, consider isolating them on a network separate from the one you use for work.
Video calls
Online meetings have introduced new risks:
- check what can be seen behind you: whiteboards, documents, sticky notes with passwords, family photos;
- use a blurred or virtual background if the setting isn't suitable;
- before sharing your screen, close windows and notifications that shouldn't be seen; sharing a single window is better than the whole desktop;
- for confidential meetings, use links with a waiting room or password, and don't publish them;
- remember that voice assistants and other people at home can hear what you say.
Paper documents and printers
- Print as little as possible. Sheets forgotten on the home printer or in the paper bin have no protection at all.
- Keep confidential documents in a locked drawer and shred them when they're no longer needed.
- If the printer is networked, update its firmware and change the default credentials.
Confidentiality in shared spaces
If you sometimes work from a café, a coworking space or on the train:
- use a privacy filter on the screen so people next to you can't read it;
- never leave the laptop unattended, not even for a minute;
- avoid calls about confidential matters in public places;
- prefer your phone's hotspot to open Wi-Fi networks.
Laptop theft or loss
A stolen work laptop is a security problem, not just a cost. To reduce the impact:
- check that the disk is encrypted (BitLocker on Windows, FileVault on macOS): without the password, the data can't be read;
- set the screen to lock automatically after a few minutes;
- report the theft to the company at once: they can disable access and, if the device is managed, wipe it remotely.
The most important rule: report it
A strange email, a click on a suspicious link, a file opened by mistake, a laptop behaving oddly: when working remotely it's easy to think "it's nothing" and carry on, because the IT colleague isn't at the next desk. That is exactly when reporting matters most. A company should make it easy and blame-free, and remote workers should know exactly whom to contact.
In short
- Use a device dedicated to work, or at least a separate user account.
- Access company systems only through approved tools with two-step verification.
- On video calls, check your background, notifications and what you share on screen.
- Protect paper documents, printers and your laptop with an encrypted disk.
- Report any anomaly straight away, even if it seems minor.